Long after the video game boom of the 1980s ended the boom for pinball, loyal "pinheads" are preserving the game they love.

Through leagues, tournaments, expos and web sites, pinball hobbyists and collectors in the Bay Area and beyond hope to revive the dying pastime.

"There's never been more information available to you ... there's never been more replacement parts available to you," said Chris Kuntz, owner of Pinball Pirate in Benicia, which repairs and sells pinball machines.

"There's never been better organized leagues and shows where you can go out and get into the hobby," said Kuntz, 46, an arcade-industry veteran who lives in Bay Point.

Pin-a-Go-Go, one of the area's biggest shows, returns to Dixon May 17-19.

Michael Schiess, founder of the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, senses a resurgence in the game. On Monday nights, volunteers flock to his nonprofit museum to care for its collection of about 90 pinball machines. Those who show up range from pinball novices to professional technicians like Kuntz, one of the museum's top volunteers.

Schiess said pinball holds a special appeal that video games can't touch.

Not just for 'nerds'

"It was the kind of thing that a nerd could do, a jock could do, and they could both suck at it," said Schiess, a former museum exhibition designer. "It was something different that really required a set of skills that was kind of ridiculous, but very challenging and unique.

"Basically, keep that ball from going down the hole. And while you're at it, try to hit these targets. ... It's basically an adult cat toy."

Pinball fan Patrick Coleman, 36, said he likes the "physicalness" of the game.

"It's an actual ball rolling around, not just a video representation of it," said Coleman, a database programmer, who shows up on volunteer nights to "just clean machines and learn from others."

"There's a lot of minute skill involved with the flippers," Coleman said. "There's a lot of luck involved. When you have a great game, you have a great game."

Coleman said his interest in pinball began with a game called FunHouse, which was in his college dorm. A notable feature of the game is "Rudy," a talking, ball-capturing head that follows the pinball with his eyes and speaks to players.

"I have a love-hate relationship with 'Rudy,' " Coleman said. "Every once in a while he taunts me. I have nights where I defeat him on a regular basis, and some nights he defeats me. Sometimes I just have to walk away."

Daniel Lawson of Castro Valley said he's been playing pinball his entire life. He bought his first machine about four years ago, "because it's harder and harder to find places where you can go play it."

'More alive' than video

For Lawson, pinball feels "more alive" than video games.

"Every game's different," Lawson said. "If you play the same game 10 times in a row, each time you play it it's a different game. If you go play Ms. Pac-Man or Space Invaders 10 times in a row, it's the same game. Pinball ... because there's physics and actual physical forces involved ... you can never exactly replicate your previous games."

For pinball purists, downloading a pinball video game for your iPhone or computer is not the same thing as standing in front of a machine you can actually shake.

"It's digital as opposed to analog," said Andy Kuntz, Chris's younger brother and former business partner. "And pinball is analog. It's real time. With a lot of digital devices ... they can be mastered. But with an analog device you can have the best game of your life ... and the next game, 'drain, drain, drain' and you're done. How does that happen? ... Pinball has the potential to be different every time. Which is what makes it exciting."